Stillwell, Larkin once vied to be Reds' shortstop of future

Jul. 19, 2012

In 1987, Kurt Stillwell played some shortstop, but also second and third base. Stillwell, though, could never cut in front of fellow rookie Barry Larkin on the Reds' depth chart at short. / Enquirer file photo

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Kurt Stillwell, the Reds’ first-round draft pick in 1983, and Barry Larkin, their first-round pick in 1985, both played shortstop and were considered two of the club’s top prospects as they made their way through the minor league system.

By 1987, they had ascended to the big league club and were vying to succeed long-time All-Star Dave Concepcion, who was playing first and second base in the twilight of his career. But there could be only one shortstop of the future and Larkin prevailed. He would master the position for the next 17 years and Sunday will be inducted into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y.

Stillwell and Larkin both were in their first full major league season in 1987, but it appeared manager Pete Rose already had made up his mind about who was the better shortstop. Larkin made all of his 114 starts at short. Stillwell started 46 games at short, 34 at second and 13 at third.

With Larkin staking his claim at shortstop and no position for Stillwell to play full-time, the Reds traded Stillwell on Nov. 6 to the Kansas City Royals with relief pitcher Ted Power for left-handed starting pitcher Danny Jackson and infielder Angel Salazar.

“We could have traded either one of them,” said Murray Cook, then the Reds general manager and now a scout for the Detroit Tigers. “We just felt Barry would be a better long-term shortstop than Kurt. It was just his overall talent. The coaching staff felt very strongly about it.”

Cook said the club never seriously considered moving Stillwell to second or third on a permanent basis in an attempt to allow him to stay with the Reds.

“We just felt that Kurt would be a shortstop,” Cook said. “We didn’t think he would have the bat to be a third baseman or a second baseman. We thought Barry was going to be a stronger offensive player, as he turned out to be. Both of them were good defensive players.”

Obviously, Cook and his staff made the right choice. Larkin played 19 seasons with the Reds and hit .295 with 198 home runs and 960 RBI. He appeared in 12 All-Star games, won three Gold Gloves and won the National League’s Most Valuable Player Award in 1995.

Stillwell played nine seasons for five different teams. He hit .249 with 34 home runs and 310 RBI. He played in one All-Star game before ending his career in 1996 with the Texas Rangers.

Their statistics were much closer in 1987. Stillwell hit .258 to Larkin’s .244, but Larkin hit 12 home runs and drove in 43 runs in 439 at-bats, while Stillwell hit four home runs with 33 RBI in 395 at-bats. Stillwell committed 23 errors playing three different positions. Larkin committed 19 errors, all at shortstop.

When the trade was announced, Stillwell – nicknamed “Opie” by Rose – was relieved to be leaving what for him was an untenable situation. He did not hesitate to express his frustration, telling The Enquirer at the time that he had not been treated fairly in Cincinnati.

“I did everything they wanted me to – play shortstop, third, second – but the end result was I didn’t know where I fit in,” Stillwell said. “They had a total lack of communication. You just didn’t know where you stood. We didn’t have the same lineup for any three or four days.”

Now working as a representative for agent Scott Boras, Stillwell – who helped land Washington Nationals’ rookie outfielder Bryce Harper for Boras – recalls how difficult that season was for him.

“It was a frustrating time, like any time when you’re not playing and you want to find your way,” Stillwell said. “One of the hardest things I ever had to do in my life to this day was to go in and talk to Pete Rose and try to find out what was going on. He said, ‘Well, Opie, I’m not going to give you away.’ But they traded me for a pretty darned good left-hander in the off-season.”

Cook calls the Stillwell-for-Jackson trade one of the best he ever made. Not only did it clear the deck for Larkin to pursue his Hall of Fame career, it provided the Reds with one of the National League’s best pitchers, at least for one year.

After going 9-18 in 1987, Jackson shared the National League lead in victories in 1988, going 23-8 with a 2.73 earned run average. He led the league with 15 complete games and pitched six shutouts. The Reds have not had a 20-game winner since.

“Our scouting reports said he was one of those guys who had not performed as well as everybody thought he should,” Cook said. “He was a pretty headstrong guy. He danced to his own drummer. We just thought he was on the cusp of something.”

Jackson would never approach those numbers again. He went 6-11 in 1989 and 6-6 in 1990 before signing with the Chicago Cubs as a free agent.

Power was part of the trade, Cook said, because the Royals wanted an established player to go with Stillwell. Salazar, who was cut by the Reds during spring training in 1988, was tossed into the mix as a replacement infielder for the Reds.

Making the trade wasn’t easy for Cook. Both Stillwell and Power – now the Reds’ pitching coach at Triple A Louisville – were favorites of then-Reds owner Marge Schott.

“You’d better be right,” Cook remembers Schott saying when he told her about the trade.

The deal looked like a winner for both teams in the summer of 1988 when the All-Star game was played at Cincinnati’s Riverfront Stadium and both Larkin and Stillwell were chosen.

“I recall it being the highlight of my career,” Stillwell said. “The ovation and the fan reaction when my name was called I’ll never forget it. It meant everything to me.”

By then, Larkin – who wore No. 15 in 1987 – was wearing No. 11, which had been his number until he reached the Reds and found that Stillwell had it. After Stillwell was traded, Larkin asked for and received No. 11, which he wore for the rest of his career. Stillwell, who wore No. 1 in Kansas City, was happy to see Larkin get the number he wanted. At a chance meeting during spring training in 1988, he let Larkin know there were no hard feelings.

“Back in the ’80s, we’d wear these gold pendants with our number on it on a gold chain,” Stillwell said. “I just handed it off to him. Looking back, I’m sure it wasn’t very expensive. It was kind of a gesture of good will. I wished him well. He certainly did well with that number.”

Stillwell, 47, harbors no resentment toward the Reds, Rose or the city of Cincinnati. His wife, Angie, is from Independence, Ky., and he still visits the area several times a year. He said he’s happy to see Larkin enter the Hall of Fame.

“Barry Larkin is representative of the type of talent that Cincinnati put out. It was always a hotbed for baseball. I always had a lot of respect and admiration for Barry. Obviously his athletic ability was very apparent. As a person, he was always just a class act.”